The 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 10-7 in the regular season and won the NFC South before losing at home to the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. It was a team-record fourth straight division title, tying the New Orleans Saints (2017-20) for the longest such run since the creation of the NFC South in 2002. The Buccaneers also made the playoffs for a fifth straight season, the only NFC team to do so over the last five years.
Tampa Bay's offense improved considerably from the year before. After finishing 23rd in yards per game and 20th in points per game in 2023, the Buccaneers climbed all the way to third in yards (399.6) and fourth in points (29.5) in 2024. Baker Mayfield followed up his resurgent 2023 campaign with one of the best seasons ever for a Buccaneers quarterback and top five NFL finishes in most passing categories. However, the biggest improvement for the Bucs came on the ground; after finishing dead last in both yards per game and yards per carry in each of the previous two seasons, the Buccaneers ranked fourth (149.2) and third (5.25) in those two categories, respectively, and set franchise single-season records for rushing yards and per-carry average.
Many different players contributed to those expansive numbers. Here's a look at the Bucs' top producers in a variety of offensive categories:
Points Scored: K Chase McLaughlin, 144
McLaughlin quietly broke the Bucs' all-time single-season scoring record, surpassing the 136 points scored by kicker Ryan Succop in 2020. Since Martin Gramatica scored what at the time was a team-record 126 points in the 2000 season, that standard has since been broken four times, but McLaughlin's margin of eight points over the previous record was the largest of those four instances.
McLaughlin's high point total was the result of a high-powered offense overall plus his own deadly accuracy. He got to try 56 extra point attempts, just three off the team record, and made 54 of them. He also went 30 of 32 on field goal tries, breaking his own Bucs record for success rate at 93.8%.
McLaughlin's 144 points ranked fourth in the NFL in 2024, behind only Pittsburgh's Chris Boswell (158), Dallas' Brandon Aubrey (150) and the L.A. Chargers' Cameron Dicker (150). McLaughlin's field goal percentage ranked third in the league behind the Titans' Nick Folk (95.5%) and the Packers' Brandon McManus (95.2%). Both numbers were new career highs for McLaughlin.
Touchdowns: WR Mike Evans, 11
For the sixth time in his 11 NFL seasons, Evans hit double digits in touchdown catches, including five of the last six campaigns, which also made him the 2024 team leader in overall trips to the end zone. He is now tied for sixth in league history for seasons with 10-plus touchdown catches, trailing only four Pro Football Hall of Famers: Randy Moss (9), Jerry Rice (9), Marvin Harrison (6) and Terrell Owens (8). In terms of total touchdowns, Evans tied for 17th in the NFL in 2024.
Overall, the Buccaneers had four players score eight or more touchdowns, with running back Rachaad White finding paydirt nine times and the rookie duo of running back Bucky Irving and wide receiver Jalen McMillan tallying eight scores each. Tampa Bay and Detroit were the only teams in the NFL to have four different eight-touchdown scorers in 2024.
Yards from Scrimmage: RB Bucky Irving, 1,514
Irving combined 1,122 rushing yards with another 392 yards on 47 catches to produce the eighth-highest yards-from-scrimmage total in franchise history. It was the second-highest mark in franchise history by a rookie, trailing only Doug Martin's 1,926 in 2012.
Irving ranked 10th in the NFL among all players in yards from scrimmage in 2024, and first among rookies.
Rushing Yards: Irving, 1,122
Irving became the fifth rookie in Bucs history to record a 1,000-yard rushing season, and the first since Martin in 2012. Irving's total ranked third on that list of five, behind Martin (1,454) and Cadillac Williams in 2005 (1,178) and ahead of Errict Rhett in 1994 (1,011) and LeGarrette Blount in 2010 (1,007).
Irving also led all NFL rookies in rushing yards in 2024, well ahead of the Commanders' Jayden Daniels (891)Giants' Tyrone Tracy (839) in second place. The Bucs' emerging young star finished 10th in rushing yards among all NFL players.
Rushing Touchdowns: Irving, 8
Irving accounted for exactly half of the Bucs' 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024 and tied for 15th in the NFL in that category. He led all NFL rookies in the category, two ahead of Daniels.
Yards Per Carry (minimum 100 carries): Irving, 5.42
Mayfield led the team among all players with at least 50 runs in 2024 with 6.30 yards per carry, but in the Buccaneers' official record book, the minimum for qualifying in this category is 100 carries in a season. As such, it is Irving who will be added to that book in 2025, as his 5.42 yards per tote set a new team single-season standard by a comfortable margin. The previous record was 5.09 by Ronald Jones in 2020; the only other qualifying player to top five yards per carry in a season for Tampa Bay was LeGarrette Blount, at 5.01 in 2010. The difference of 0.33 yards per carry between Irving and Jones in second place is bigger than the difference between Jones and fifth place on the list.
Irving finished sixth in the NFL in rushing average in 2024, and fourth among running backs. Daniels (6.58) and fellow quarterback Lamar Jackson (6.02) of the Ravens top the list and are followed by running backs Derrick Henry (5.91) of the Ravens, the Eagles' Saquon Barkley (5.81) and the Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs (5.65).
Passing Yards: Mayfield, 4,500
The same season-capping play that gave Evans' his 11th straight 1,000-yard receiving season also got Mayfield to exactly 4,500 yards, making him just the 10th quarterback in NFL history to record a season with 4,500-plus passing yards and 40-plus passing touchdowns.
Mayfield set a new career high for yards for the second year in a row after throwing for 4,044 yards in 2023, his first season with the Buccaneers. He joins Tom Brady and Jameis Winston as the only quarterbacks in franchise history to reach 4,500 yards in a season, and overall his total ranks fifth in Bucs annals.
Mayfield's yardage total ranked third in the NFL behind only Cincinnati's Joe Burrow (4,918) and Detroit's Jared Goff (4,629).
Touchdown Passes: Mayfield, 41
Mayfield's 41 touchdown passes were also a new personal best, blowing past the 28 he threw last year for his previous season high. It was the second-highest single-season mark in franchise history, just two behind the 43 that Brady threw in 2021. Mayfield and Brady are the only passers in team history to record a 40-touchdown seasons, as Brady also had 40 in 2020.
In this category, Mayfield ranked even higher among league leaders, tying Jackson for the second-most on the list. The only quarterback with more touchdown passes in 2024 was Burrow, with 43.
Passer Rating: Mayfield, 106.8
Mayfield set a new single-season Buccaneers' record for passer rating by a notable margin in 2024. The previous record of 102.2 was set by Tom Brady in 2020. This is just the fourth season of a 100-plus passer rating in Bucs history, joining Brady in 2020 and 2021 (102.1) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (100.4) in 2018.
Mayfield's rating in 2024 was also his own personal best by an even wider margin. His previous high came in 2020, his third season with the Browns, when he finished with a mark of 95.9. In addition to his high touchdown total, Mayfield helped spur his rating to new heights in 2024 by completing a personal-best 71.4% of his passes, which ranked third in the NFL and set a new Tampa Bay record. The previous high mark was 69.3% by Brian Griese in 2004.
Receptions: WR Mike Evans, 74
Evans led the Buccaneers in catches for the first time since 2020, when he had 70, and it was just tied for the fifth-best single-season mark of his career. However, he did tie Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce for the most consecutive seasons with at least 65 receptions.
Evans' reception total tied for 28th in the NFL in 2024. Had Chris Godwin not suffered a dislocated ankle in Week Seven against Baltimore, it's likely he would have led the team in receptions for the fourth year in a row. In fact, he was leading all NFL players at that point with 50 receptions.
Receiving Yards: Evans, 1,004
With his 11th straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, Evans tied Jerry Rice for the longest such streak in NFL history and moved into second place by himself behind Rice in total 1,000-yard campaigns. It took a nine-yard catch-and-run on the very last play of the Bucs' regular season to get him past the mark. The frenzied rush to the end was only necessary because Evans missed three games and most of a fourth in the middle of the season due to a significant hamstring injury.
Evans ranked 22nd in the NFL in receiving yards in 2024. It was the second-lowest final total of his career.
Touchdown Receptions: Evans, 11
Interestingly, Evans' 11 touchdown catches in 2024 were actually just the sixth-highest mark of his career, but he tied for fourth in the NFL in that category this season, trailing only Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase (17), Washington's Terry McLaurin (13) and Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown (12). Evans is now responsible for six of the eight seasons in Bucs history in which a player caught 10 or more touchdown passes.
In the process, Evans improved his career mark to 105, which ranks ninth in NFL history and makes him the NFL's active leader, two ahead of the Jets' Davante Adams.
Yards Per Reception (minimum 25 receptions): Evans, 13.6
Evans' mark of 13.6 yards per reception in 2024 was actually the lowest single-season average of his career; his previous low was 13.8 in 2016, when he caught 96 passes for 1,321 yards and 12 touchdowns and made his first Pro Bowl. However, it was still best among all Buccaneers who had at least 20 catches this season. He ranked 21st in the NFL among qualifying pass-catchers in yards per reception.
